Bloomberg Cosmetics maker Coty Inc reported worse-than-expected results in its fourth quarter, posting a $1.2 billion drop in sales year on year as consumers stuck at home during the pandemic skipped beauty-product purchases. Sales of $922.1 million in the company’s fiscal fourth quarter were down 56% year on year and worse than analysts’ estimate of $1.34 billion. After a brutal …

Bloomberg Gap Inc tempered the pace of its sales decline in the second quarter, outpacing analysts’ estimates by picking up e-commerce customers. Sales for the period, which ended on August 1, fell 18% from a year earlier to $3.3 billion, higher than analysts’ projection of $2.9 billion. The company, which owns the Old Navy and Banana Republic brands, increased comparable-store …

Bloomberg Centricus Asset Management Ltd. and Triller Inc. are seeking to buy TikTok’s operations in the US and several other countries from ByteDance Ltd. for $20 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. Investors led by London-based Centricus will partner with US-based Triller, another video and music-based social networking app, which would have a minority stake in a …

Bloomberg McLaren Automotive’s first new vehicle chassis in a decade will carry a big burden, underpinning the supercar maker’s transition to all-electrified powertrains. The first of the gas-electric hybrid models built off the carbon fiber architecture will debut next year, McLaren said in a statement. Its composites technology center in Northern England’s Sheffield region developed the chassis and will produce …

Bloomberg Google and Facebook Inc. dropped plans for an undersea cable between the US and Hong Kong after the Trump administration said Beijing might use the link to collect information on Americans. But the companies quickly submitted a revised proposal that includes links to Taiwan and the Philippines, as envisioned in the application that was withdrawn last week. The new …

Bloomberg Verily, the Alphabet Inc. life sciences unit that’s previously targeted mosquito-borne illness and launched Covid-19 testing programs, is getting into the health insurance business. The San Francisco Bay Area company announced a new subsidiary named Coefficient Insurance that will also be backed by Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial insurance unit of Swiss Re Group. The company will sell …

Bloomberg Apple Inc. terminated Epic Games’s App Store developer account, escalating a bitter legal fight over the iPhone maker’s controversial fees and rules. This means Epic can’t submit new apps or updates to the App Store and it prevents iPhone users from making purchases inside Epic’s popular Fortnite video game via Apple’s payment system. It will also leave the Apple …

Bloomberg Oil held near a five-month high as Hurricane Laura bore down on key refining facilities on the US Gulf Coast, with forecasts saying it will strengthen rapidly into a “potentially catastrophic” Category 4 storm. Futures in New York were steady after jumping 1.7%. The storm is expected to make landfall on Thursday along the Texas-Louisiana coast, according to the …

Bloomberg UK judges can set global royalty rates for the use of telecommunications technology, Britain’s highest court said in a pair of cases over how much Huawei Technologies owes a US patent owner. The UK Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a decision that Huawei would either have to pay Unwired Planet International Ltd. a global rate set by judges or …

Bloomberg AirAsia Group Bhd posted its largest quarterly loss on record as restrictions imposed by governments to contain the spread of the coronavirus decimated travel. Southeast Asia’s second-biggest budget carrier by market value reported a net loss of 992.9 million ringgit ($238 million) in the three months ended June 30 versus net income of 17.3 million ringgit a year ago, …